Toy support for play blocks



Dec. 18, 1956 F. L. [LG 2,774,180

TOY SUPPORT FOR PLAY BLOCKS Filed June 10, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 18, 1956 F. ILG 2,774,180

TOY SUPPORT FOR PLAY BLOCKS Filed June 10, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 2,774,180 TOY SUPPORT FOR PLAY BLOCKS Frances L. Ilg, New Haven, Conn. Application June 10, 1953, Serial No. 360,690 7 8 Claims. c1. 46-1) This invention relates to an educational toy for small children and is more particularly concerned with a toy of the character indicated which will permit the child to exercise his creative talents and which will safely provide an outlet for the childs natural urge to knock down what he has created.

Experience with young children has shown that not only do they enjoy building, as with blocks, but also that they enjoy knocking down what they have built. When conventional building blocks are employed, the final knocking down of the blocks may injure the floor or the surrounding furniture, or other children in the vicinity. Moreover, the knocking down of a freely ,standing block structure may lead to excessive actions ,on the part of the child with undesirable results and damage. Young children also like to. strike objects either with their hands or with some striking implement, such as a hammer. The release of this natural urge, if not controlled, may also have undesirable consequences.

It is an object of the present invention to provide "a single, compact toy which will permit the safe'and con trolled release of the childs urge to build and to destroy (what he has built, as well as his urge to strike.

It is another object of the invention to provide a toy .-of this nature which will also appeal to the childs creative talents and will provide an efiective means for the development of these talents.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a new educational toy which will naturally and safely aid in the motor development of the young child;

It is another object of the invention to provide an educational toy which will assist in the development of the childs manual dexterity. p

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a toy of the character indicated which comprises a .case providing a sloping supporting surface for the reception of a plurality of blocks adapted to be arranged in predetermined relationship, a movable member for dislodging the blocks when arranged on the supporting surface, and means for actuating the movable member at the will of the child.

It is a feature of the toy of the invention that the movable member actuating means may be operated directly by the hand of the child or may be actuated by striking with an implement, as with a mallet or hammer.

It is another feature of the invention that the movable member effectively dislodges the blocks within a co'n-;

fined area and prevents their being flung with undesired force around the surrounding area.

It is a further feature of the invention that'the'blocks may be arranged on the supporting surface in a variety of relative relationships and thus provide means for the development of the childs creative talents as well as his Other objects and features of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of illusperception.

,trative embodiments of the invention and tromthe accompanying drawings, wherein,

Patented Dec. 18, 1956 Fig. 3 is a perspective viewsimilar to that of Fig. 1

but showing the blocks in place against the supporting surface;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention, showing a modified form of block dislodging means; I

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view approximately through the center of the embodiment shown in Fig. 4;v Fig. 6 is a similar view of the embodiment of Fig. 4,. showing the relationship of parts at the time the blocks are dislodged from the supporting surface by the child; and

Fig. 7 is a central transverse sectional view, similar to Figs. 2, 5 and 6, of another embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 3, the reference numeral 10 designates generally the toy illustrated. Toy 10 is formed from two trapezoidal end walls 12 secured together by a top cross bar 14 and a partial back strip 16 connects the lower portions of the end walls 12. A bottom for the toy 10 and a support for the blocks 18 is provided by a slightly inclined bottom strip 20 which is received in lateral grooves 22 extending. transversely of the end walls 12 adjacent their lower ends. As shown in the drawings, the bottom strip 20 extendsfrom the back strip 16 and projects beyond the sides of the 'end walls for a short distance. An inclined lateral support for the blocks 18 is provided by a supporting 'wall 24 which, in the embodiment illustrated, is received in longitudinal grooves formedin the end walls 12, and the supporting wall 24 and the end walls are advantageously secured together, as by screws 25, to impart greater rigidity to the structure. It'will be observed that in theembodiment of Figs. 1 to 3 the supporting'w'all 24 does not extend to the bottom strip' 20 but terminates a small distance short of it todefine an elongated slot 26, the'purpo se of which will be apparent as the description proceeds. Similarly, the supporting wall 24 is not flush withfthe side edges 27 of the side walls 12 but is spaced inwardly a short distance, as shown in Fig. 2. 1 v

Although the blocks 18 may be all of the same length, they are advantageously of at least two diiferent lengths as shown in Fig. 3, the shorter blocks being about two' thirds to three-fourths the length of the longer blocks. In either case, the blocks are so dimensioned thatthe combined lengths of two or more blocks is equal to thedistance between the side walls 12. Advantageously, as 1 scribed thusprovides a structure for block building and arrangement to develop the'childs manual dexterity and perceptive, abilities. As previously mentioned, the toy 1 0 also provides opportunity for the child to knockdown the blocks which he has constructed in a safe and controlled manner. For this purpose, there is provided a pusher element 30 which is adapted to slidealong bottom strip .20 and to project from the slot 26 to dislodge the blocks lying .in front of the slot. The pusher element 30 is actuated by' a vertically movable rod 32 which has an end which extends upwardly through an aperture in the cross bar 14. A spring strip 34, which may be formed.

strip 16 and is provided with an aperture '36;thrugh V which'the rod passes. :LA' knob 38' covers the'up'pe'jrend of rod 3 2'iand serves to lirni'tfits downward movement, while providing as'mooth strikingsurface. V Z

f When it is desired to dislodge the blocks 18 fromitheir 'resting place against supporting wall 24, it is merely necessary' to move the rod 32 downwardly. Such movement 1 t causes the pusher'relemen't :30; to move ithroughthe slot 126 and to strike the lowermost course of fblock's,' pushing theseblocks forwardly away from the'supporti wall''. This will generally cause, all of the ;BIoks to' fall off; butlif V a the upper courses merely slide down and 'come wrest onthe projection of the bottom strip llL'the'yar readily l dislodged byr'epeated downward movement of the 32'."

As soon as pressufe on the rod is released, it is returned to its initial upward position and the pusher'element '30 a 'is retracted' by the actionof spring strip 341 It will be apparent'that' the rod 32 may be moved directly by the hand of the child or that it may be moved by striking it's upper'end 38-withsome other object For this purpose there isconveniently p'rovided'a mallet 40 which is advanfageously stored when not in use by passing its'handle throngs an aperture i the top crossbar 14. When not 7 t inlnse the block'smay be stored in the space within the t I0 definedby the end walls 1'2,"backfstrip '16 and s Econtained toy which is ecpnomical to construct and 'jwhich'provides an important need in the educational toy field. No matter howthard the rod' 32 is struck to disa lod e the blocks; none of the blocks willrtravel beyond .a fs'hortidis'tance of the supporting Wall, with theresult that danger of far-flying blocksis eliminated. The toy of the in entionprovides healthful and educational play means for the'ch'ild, Zye't serves to 'co'n'finethe play activity within 40 a limited area. in

s orting wall 24.1There is thus provideda Compact,

1 i'ltyvillabe pbvion'sjhatjvariousr changesland inodificai nsmay titj n' having a blo'clc dijslodgirig' means oflmodifie structure mby 'w. V 7 par s correspondingto those shown in Figsial to; 3 l'1jave been given like reference numerals to which 100 ha s' been' i "added. (As illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6; the toy llll has side 7 ivalls' 1 1 2,"a top cross bar 1 14, a bottom lgq; andiaipar- Ltial black strip 116 "in the form and relative relationships i ofthe corresponding' parts shown' in Figsl l" to'13 "Ihe supporting wall, however, extends substantiallyto e boten hi iged at its' to p, asbyihinge 119, 0 topfcross 114, 'bein g otherwise free i fror'n connfition 1' to his r portions or the toy,; and jst'ationary{ panels r2415;

' japerea mani cs 1 -42, and ma nerisms? be made in th'eemhodiinent illustrated in Figs; 7 t .3 wit out departing from' the spirit and scope jdf thefl The blopk dislodging means, for'exarnple, may:

which varies somewhat from. that inithe erna, ,bdd m i s' bl An e bodimentp th ii v' n-I V compris 11g acam memberli fll, I"

rod 132 to its upward position upon release of the downward force upon it. Concurrently the cam member 141 moves upwardly and permits the central panel 124a to return to its normal inward position. The cam follower 143 normally serves as a stop for the inward movement of the central panel, although auxiliary stopmeans of any convenient type (not shown) may, if desired, be provided; While in the embodimentwillustrated' the central panel comprises about one-third of the supporting wall, it may be a greater or smaller portion of the wall surface; It should be sufliciently-large, however, that'it will strike a portion of all of the blocks upon its outwardmove- 7 merit-and will'fthns eliectively 'dislodgethem'. i V

In another embodimentfof the invention, illustrated in Fig.7, features of the structure of Figs'gl 'to 3 and fea-I turesvof the structure of Figs. 4 to 5 maybe combined;

Referring to Fig. 7, the toy 210 has a pivoted central spring strip 234; The pusher element 230 has a width which corresponds to or is preferably less than the Width- 7 of central panel 224a in orderthat it will not strike against the stationary panels on each side of the central panel. When the rod 232 ispushed downwardly, it causes the pusher'element'23ll to move outwardly and to strike 7 against the lower end ofcentral panel 224a, pivoting the panelioutwardly as'in'Fig; 6. Upon release of pressure on pusherelement 230 by rod 232, the rod moves up wardl y. and the pusher element is retractedi by the action t. of spring strip 234. "Spring;231 returns the panel224a a to its initial position; ;.A stop245'secured to one-or fb oth' offt he stationary side'ipanelsjserves tojpreverit undesired V inward movement'of the'centraljspanel'when thefpnsher" elementisretragtech: p V

--It'" will"befapparent that-'various changes ahd modificationsin-addition to those already' me ntione'd may'lie made injthe embodimentsdescribed above and shown in i a the d'rawings iwithout departing from; the scope ofi 'the finventionasfhefined: in theappended claims. 7 It .iwill further be understood than-"i sofar as they are ,notmu- V tually incompatible, theQva'riQtis featuresand details; of i 'i V V as illustrativeonly not as limitative of construction; of they several' embodiments' shown and de; scribed are interchangeable with zone anotheri Iti;is ii1'-' tended,ther'efore, that all matter contained :inthe fore going description andsin the drawings shall be interpreted 1 l. :Ani educational-toy compris ng inacombination," a F V g case jidefi'ning a sloping supporting surface ,-adapted ito;

12a, and includes a plvoted' central patter 124d 2;

, 7 receive :a" plurality? of blocks 'iir" substantially,zed-planar alignment, saidisupporting :su'rfaceibeing atr leastjinipart V -providedt;hy'ia panel pivpte'd-in saidv acasei andig'carrying. P

fitmeansedefiningia camtsurface; means'jforesiippertingithef lowermost'of saidjplurality;ofjblocks;fromgbelow sfthy,

place said?Ypivoted ppfan el,--,and actuating-tneans for:effecti I f I -ingblockdisplacing" placing hel qksi 2;-=An educationalet'oy T icase fdefiningla sloping supporting-surface adaptedfto a a V -lieragainst' said supporting surface; means: for ;dis 7 acmg at" least ithetlower'mostg ofsaid: blocksawayi firom aid a supporting surface; said;lastenamed,means 'cornprismga"' 'cam 'followerienga'geable-withf'said cam' sllrface; to "dispris n ;insemination,

*plrnalityioftbloek spr n 1 :b' t ni h i n el an returns the i porting surface, said last-named means comprising a cam follower engageable with said cam surface to displace said pivoted panel, and actuating means for effecting block-displacing movement of said cam follower, said actuating means being a rod carrying said cam follower and vertically movable in said case, said rod extending upwardly from the case in position to be struck by a child to displace the blocks.

3. An educational toy comprising, in combination, a case defining a sloping supporting surface adapted to receive a plurality of blocks in substantially co-planar alignment, said supporting surface being at least in part provided by a panel pivoted in said case, means for supporting the lowermost of said plurality of blocks from below as they lie against said supporting surface, means for displacing at least the lowermost of said blocks away from said supporting surface, said last-named means comprising a pusher member movable into engagement with said panel, and actuating means for effecting blockdisplacing movement of said pusher member for displacing the blocks.

4. An educational toy comprising, in combination, a case, said case including a base adapted to lie in a horizontal plane and means defining a sloping supporting surface for receiving a plurality of blocks in substantially co-planar alignment, said supporting surface sloping inwardly from said base toward the central vertical axis of said case and having a horizontal dimension substantially as great as its vertical dimension, means extending from said case for supporting the lowermost of said plurality of blocks from below as they lie against said sloping supporting surface in co-planar alignment in a plane sloping from said last-named means toward Said axis, means for displacing at least the lowermost of said blocks away from said supporting surface, said displacing means being normally urged by biasing means away from displacement movement toward said blocks, and manuallycontrolled actuating means acting against said biasing means for efiecting block-displacing movement of said means for displacing the blocks.

5. An educational toy comprising, in combination, a case, said case including a base adapted to lie in a horizontal plane and means defining a sloping supporting surface for receiving a plurality of blocks in substantially co-planar alignment, said supporting surface sloping inwardly from said base toward the central vertical axis of said case and having a horizontal dimension substantially as great as its vertical dimension, means extending fi'om said case for supporting the lowermost of said plurality of blocks from below as they lie against said sloping supporting surface in co-planar alignment in a plane sloping from said last named means toward said axis, lateral guides for holding the blocks in lateral align ment on said sloping surface, means for displacing at least the lowermost of said blocks away from said sloping supporting surface, said displacing means being normally urged by biasing means away from displacement movement toward said blocks, and manually-controlled actuating means actuatable against said biasing means for effecting block-displacing movement of said means for displacing the blocks, said actuating means comprisinga rod vertically movable in said case and extending upwardly from the case in position to be struck by a child to displace the blocks from said supporting surface.

6. An educational toy comprising, in combination, a case, said case including a base adapted to lie in a horizontal plane and means defining a sloping supporting surface for receiving a plurality of blocks in substantially co-planar alignment, said supporting surface sloping inwardly from said base toward the central vertical axis of said case and having a horizontal dimension substantially as great as its vertical dimension, means extending from said case for supporting the lowermost of said plurality of blocks from below as they lie against said sloping supporting surface in co-planar alignmentin a plane sloping from said last-named means toward said axis, lateral guides for holding the blocks in lateral alignment on said sloping surface, means for displacing at least the lowermost of said blocks away from said sloping supporting surface, said displacing means being normally urged by biasing means away from displacement movement toward said blocks, and manually-controlled actuating means actuatable against said biasing means for efiecting block displacing movement of said means for displacing the blocks, the lower end of said supporting surface being spaced from said means for supporting the lowermost blocks to define a slot therebetween, and said means for displacing the lowermost blocks comprising a pusher member movable through said slot against said biasing means into engagement with the blocks.

7. A toy as defined in claim 6, wherein said actuating means comprises a rod vertically movable in said case extending upwardly from the case in position to be struck by a child to displace the blocks and being flexibly connected at its lower end by said biasing means to said pusher member.

8. A toy as defined in claim 7, wherein said pusher member is an elongated strip and said biasing means is a metal spring strip normally urging said rod upwardly and said pusher member inwardly of said case.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Olson Apr. 14, 1953 

